It has been a great journey to see how much Aid the Silent has grown in less than a year since its inception. One reader asked how Aid the Silent got started. Here is Emma’s (the founder) answer.

I lost my hearing to a severe pro-found level of deafness when I was three years old. Thankfully, growing up I had access to many resources in order to succeed and not be held back by what was seen as a “disability.” The vision for the nonprofit started after reading some heartbreaking statistics about the deaf. It said, that “45 percent of deaf individuals do not graduate from high school and only five percent from college (Dallas Hearing Foundation). Another source noted that “less than two percent of the deaf have an active relationship with Jesus (Gate Communications). It showed me that I am very fortunate to have been born where I was and to have the parents I do. That stirred something deep within me and drove me to start Aid the Silent.

The dream within me is to point people to deeper and more abundant living. I do not believe we were made to simply exist or to pass people by. I believe that we were made to engage in life and people’s lives head on. For me success is truly helping people and inviting them into more life. I have found the answer for rich living to be in Jesus, and that is why my calling is to share that story with others and what that encounter has done in my life. I have dreams for the Aid the Silent to be an internationally known organization; to give hundreds of resources to disadvantaged deaf and hard-of-hearing children and teens.

Every morning as I wake up and before my feet hits my bedroom floor, I pray, “Let me live not for myself today, but for others.” And that has instantly changed my mindset from “me, me, me” and instead toward caring for others and being intentional with whoever I cross paths with that coming day.